Panama has long been a favorite for retirees and this year it has taken the top spot in our retirement index. Whether it’s Panama City’s glittering promenade or the white-sand beaches of the Caribbean coast…Panama has somewhere for everyone.

Forever Young editor’s note: While we live in the Southern Interior of B.C. and consider ourselves to be blessed and already living in the retirement Mecca, nevertheless we have reproduced this list from International Living to assist folks looking for a LONGSTAY vacation. It may be of assistance in selecting a place for a longer stay winter or other season vacation… As I write this, it is snowing out and has been for a few days. Many of these photos look like the place I wish I were right now!!! S.N.T.

Panama is the best place in the world to retire in 2016, according to a new Index by the retire-overseas experts at InternationalLiving.com. The Index, now in its 25th year, ranks, rates, compares, and contrasts retirement destinations all over the world to come up with the best countries for retirees to consider.

“Researched over months with the help of our ever-growing team of correspondents, editors, and contributors all over the world, this Retirement Index is the ultimate resource for helping you find your ideal retirement haven,” reports Jennifer Stevens, InternationalLiving.com’s Executive Editor.

“We strive to make it better every year. We refine, we add, we whittle…with one goal: to get the most accurate results. Our belief is: The more input, the clearer and more useful the outcome.”

The winner, Panama, scores high across the board in all categories, but receives a perfect score of 100 in three categories—Retiree Benefits and Discounts; Visas and Residence; and Entertainment and Amenities.

Panama has long been a favorite of retirees, who have a choice of lifestyles along both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, on white-sand islands, in mountain valleys, or in cosmopolitan Panama City. Panama is close to the U.S. (a three-hour flight from Miami) and also has the best package of retirement benefits in the world.

Good grief! Can it really be 50 years since “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered?

The 1965 holiday classic was an immediate hit, scoring a massive audience and winning an Emmy and a Peabody. It has become a holiday perennial, charming three generations of parents and children. Yet, surprisingly, half a century ago, it was a tough sell.

Making it happen was a small band of TV newcomers from around the San Francisco Bay area: Charles Schultz, creator and artist on every single Peanuts cartoon strip ever drawn; Lee Mendelson, a fledgling TV producer; Bill Melendez, a former Disney and Warner Bros. animator who went on to animate hundreds of TV ads and Vince Guaraldi, a local jazz musician.

Schultz had penned Peanuts for 15 years, and while it was rapidly becoming the most widely-syndicated newspaper strip in the world, it hadn’t quite become a pop phenomenon. TV would drive Peanuts to greater fame, with feature films and a Broadway play all part of a ‘60s embrace.

Mendelson had just produced a documentary on Willie Mays and wanted his next project to be about the artist who drew Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He contacted the Peanuts creator—a big baseball fan—who agreed to the project. Schulz recommended Melendez--who Schultz collaborated with on a series of Ford TV commercials—to do the two-minute animated segment needed for the doc.

Palm Springs may bring to mind golfing, shopping and dining, and while it’s all of those, it’s also a microcosm of American history, architecture, celebrity, and culture.

By A.J Williams

Channeling our ‘old Hollywood’ alter-egos, we landed in Palm Springs. This was a ‘QuickTripTo’ my best friend and I had been talking about for years. For me, a chance to explore this iconic destination with such a rich history; for her, an opportunity to escape the routine of kids, errands, work, and doing things for everyone else.

No matter the reason, Palm Springs might just be the perfect Girls Getaway. It’s classier than Vegas, calmer than New York (which I do adore) and if you fall for the unique beauty and confidence of Palm Springs, you’ll fall hard.

To really appreciate the architecture (think George Jetson meets Frank Lloyd Wright) you need to take a tour. After breakfast at Wilma & Freidas (the short rib benny will change your world) in Palm Desert, get over to the Palm Springs Visitor Centre, where you’ll meet up with your tour guide, Robert Imber, a legendary devotee of mid-century modern architecture and all-round man-about-town.

You’ll come away with an incredible appreciation for the visionaries that practiced architecture here decades ago. Frey, Clark, Wexler, Williams, Cody, and of course Lloyd Wright have all put their mark on this town. Simple, yet brilliant design greets you at every turn, as well as many celebrity homes, including Elvis and Priscilla’s Honeymoon Hideaway, one of Liberace’s homes, and of course, Sinatra’s house.

Up on the hill is the ever-present Bob Hope house, which looks somewhere between ‘Darth Vader’s helmet’ and the Bat Cave. It’s iconic (and currently for sale if you’re flush with $25 million). The ‘Alexanders’ are everywhere. These homes all feature the same street-side formula: Parking, breezeway, windows, wall. What differs is the materials used, orientation and the customized décor inside. No two look truly alike, which is design at its finest. For an immersion course, visit during Modernism Week in February.

Fine dining and great wine is usually important when I’m booking a travel destination. So as a foodie and aspiring wine snob, I wasn’t quite sure about the beer and food scene in the City of Roses. However, I decided to trade in my typical dinner party attire for comfy walking shoes and a sense of epicurean adventure. Well actually the first day in Portland, I didn’t have the right walking shoes, and I paid for it. However, the shopping there’s pretty good (no sales tax!), so that issue was remedied quite quickly.

Unlike many cites where ‘Street Eats’ are constantly on the move (with lots of smart phone apps to help you track your favourites), Portland’s food trucks are mostly organized in ‘pods’ scattered around town. Very clever. What this means to the average foodie is a lot of fabulous food in a small area, and probably not enough FitBit credits in between bites. The cuisine is as diverse as the city itself, and you can forget finding a run-of-the-mill hotdog stand here. This is gourmet food, served fast and fresh and worth standing in line for. From classic French to incredible Thai food, or Indian and Mediterranean options, I don’t think there was a cuisine we didn’t see.

If sitting down for a meal is more your style, then visit one of the brew pubs in Portland. Let’s just say Portlanders take their beer seriously. Very seriously. Portland is home to more breweries than any other city on Earth. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s kind of ‘Beervana’. There are beer festivals, beer months, beer tours, and naturally, beer experts who can give you great advice. The brewpubs offer a staggering number of craft beers, and some pretty stellar eats too. Bridgetown Brewing was a highlight, and it’s in the city’s famous Pearl District, a funky, hipster-filled neighbourhood that seemingly goes on forever, with one cool shop and brewpub after another.

Forever Young’s 50 plus demographic is an active group that may be on the cusp of being identified as seniors but they don’t feel like they’re in their sunset years.

Our cover stories are one way that the magazine appeals to adults who are yet to be retired and to retirees of all ages.

The famous faces that have appeared on the 360 covers over the past 30 years run the gamut from political figures and sports icons to Hollywood celebrities and royalty. The idea that an interesting character on our cover would prompt potential readers to pick up a copy is a part of the magazine’s success.

While we started with lesser-known figures like ex-boxer Sammy Lufspring and entertainer Anna Russell in October and December 1986 respectively, the celebrity pedigree of the features increased dramatically. In 1987 and ’88 such notables at Moe Koffman, Tommy Hunter, Dick Beddoes, Phyllis Diller, Arnold Palmer, Pierre Berton and Bob Hope were featured.

Here are some of the highlights from our archives and the cover stories that have brought Forever Young to its 30th anniversary.

December 1988: Bob HopeHe was 85 and still making us laugh. Why was he so funny? It was his impeccable timing and his ability to snap a line, cover it and move onto the next. Why was he still working at his advanced age? “Because I was asked to. I’d be in Palm Springs relaxing if people didn’t ask me to work.”